The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Rangers 5, Isles 0 

Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin each scored twice to spoil Ilya Sorokin's surprise NHL debut as the Rangers earned a split of the season-opening series with a 5-0 victory over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden.

Semyon Varlamov was injured early in warmups after being struck below the mask on a shot from Cal Clutterbuck; Cory Schneider dressed as a back-up for the Isles for the first time.

Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves for his fifth career shutout and second against the Isles.

The Scoring:

1st Period

Pavel Buchnevich (1) Mika Zibanejad (1) 02:12 NYI 0,NYR 1

Artemi Panarin (1) Brendan Smith (1) 13:46 NYI 0,NYR 2

2nd Period

Pavel Buchnevich (2) 05:57 NYI 0,NYR 3

Kaapo Kakko (1) Phillip Di Giuseppe (1), Filip Chytil (1) 15:24 NYI 0,NYR 4

3rd Period

Artemi Panarin (2) Adam Fox (1), Pavel Buchnevich (1) 15:56 NYI 0,NYR 5 PPG

The Skinny        

The teams have traded shutouts in consecutive game for the first time in their history…Matt Martin had 5 hits, raising his career total to 2,997.  Only four active players have at least 3,000 hits (one of whom is Cal Clutterbuck… Artemi Panarin now has 10 goals in 17 career games against the Isles….The Isles were shorthanded eight times for the first time since March 15, 2018 against Washington (then coached by Barry Trotz).

The Injuries

Semyon Varlamov was injured in warm-ups and did not play.  Ryan Pulock suffered a cut on his ear in the first period but returned for the start of the second period. 

You Have to Start Somewhere

Ilya Sorokin is the first goalie in Islander history to make his NHL debut against the Rangers.  He is also the first goalie to make his NHL debut as an Islander since Christopher Gibson (January 2, 2016 in Pittsburgh in relief) and the first Islander to start his NHL debut since Jean-Francois Berube on October 10, 2015 in Chicago.

Home and Road

The Isles are 1-1-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

The Rangers are 1-1-0 overall; 1-1-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 846-618-60-151 in 1,675 games, and he is now four wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  925

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    846

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,705

3. Barry Trotz         1,676

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-1-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-7-6=23

Rangers 10-14-8=32

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-1-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-25-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves but falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 0-1-0 against the Rangers.

Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves for his 5th career shutout (and second against the Isles); he is 1-0-0 on the season and 6-2-0 in his career against the Isles.  

Special Teams

The Isles were 0-4 on the power play (7:03); the Rangers were 1-8 on the power play (13:00)

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-1-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-1-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-1-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 1-1-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Scott Mayfield (22:37); Rangers: Jacob Trouba (24:03)

Brock Nelson led Isles forwards with 18:00 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0), Scott Mayfield (0-1-0).

Face-offs

Isles 31, Rangers 25 (55%)

JG Pageau won 11 of 16 for the Isles; no Ranger won more draws than he lost. 

Hit Count

Isles 31 (Matt Martin -5)

Rangers 22 (Jack Johnson-5)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Scott Mayfield -4)

Rangers 6 (6 with 1)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 38, Rangers 65

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 25, Rangers 41

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Anders Lee and Matt Barzal  -1

Rangers: K'Andre Miller +12

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 4, Rangers 12

5-on-5: Isles 0, Rangers 6

Scratches

(Semyon Varlamov-INJ),(Michael Dal Colle-INJ), Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho

Games Lost: 3

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  It is the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 270, Brock Nelson 247, Mathew Barzal 234, Ryan Pulock 197, Josh Bailey 155, Anthony Beauvillier 145.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 270

5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 247

7. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

8. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 234

10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 197

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Challenges

Isles: 0 successful, 0 failures 

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games that they are successful and 0-0-0 in games that they are unsuccessful.

Opponents: 0 successful, 1 failure (no goalie interference 1/14 @ NYR)

The Isles are 1-0-0 in games where opponents' challenges go their way and 0-0-0 in games that go the opponents' way.

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5.  Josh Bailey 867…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 562 *** 19. Ken Morrow and Brock Nelson 550 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23.  Casey Cizikas 536

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 174 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 151

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 322 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter, Alexei Yashin and Nick Leddy 171

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 476…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 303  ***22.  Brock Nelson 296

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 152

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 83

Season Series Stats

The season series is tied 1 game to 1 (and 2 points to 2).

 

The teams will meet again at the Garden on February 8th and then will not play again until April 9th.

UP NEXT

MONDAY, JANUARY 18th— BOSTON AT ISLANDERS 5:00pm,

[MSG+ (pre-game at 4:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio 1050]

This game will air on NBCSN outside of the New York Area.

The Isles return to the Coliseum for the first time since March 7th as they face the Boston Bruins for the first time this season.

The Isles are 27-14-6 all-time in home openers, including 25-13-5 at the Coliseum.  The Isles have lost two straight home-openers; they have never lost three straight home openers in regulation.

It is the fourth time that the Bruins have provided the opposition for the home opener; the Isles have won the first three: 1977, 1980 (first game played as Stanley Cup Champions) and 2006.

The Isles have had their troubles with the Bruins in recent years,  particularly at home.  The Isles are 1-7-2 in the last 10 meetings overall,  winning only a shootout game in Boston thirteen months ago.  The Isles have not beaten the Bruins at home since 2013 (0-9-1, including 0-4-0 at the Coliseum).

In a return to tradition, the Isles will host a game on Martin Luther King Day.  The Isles have hosted an MLK Day  game 14 previous times, including every year from 2007-2015.  

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on Anders Lee's Opening Night

Some time after midnight, the Isles' fourth goal was officially awarded to Captain Anders Lee.  

That gave Lee a 2 goal, 8 shot opening night - something no Islander has done since at least the 70s.

Lee is the first Islander with two goals on Opening Night since Brock Nelson (2014 in Carolina) and the first Islander captain with two Opening Night goals since Trevor Linden (1998 vs. Pittsburgh).

The corrected goal is also a power play goal; he had only two power play goals all last season.

With the 40th anniversary of Bossy's 50 in 50 coming next week, I present:

50 in 25

Anders Lee now has 25 two-goal games, most of any active player without a hat trick.  Adam Henrique is next on that list with 22.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Isles 4, Rangers 0

"The Skinny"          

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Isles 4, Rangers 0

(reflects scoring change made after midnight)

Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored in the season's first 3:52 and Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for his 28th career shutout as the Isles opened the 2020-21 season with a 4-0 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

The Isles took control of the game early and grabbed a 3-0 lead before the first period was over.  Anders Lee appeared to tip in Jordan Eberle's shot late in the second period to make it 4-0, but the goal was credited to Eberle.  

The Scoring:

1st Period

Brock Nelson (1) Anthony Beauvillier (1), Nick Leddy (1) 02:33 NYI 1,NYR 0 PPG

Anders Lee (1) Nick Leddy (2) 03:52 NYI 2,NYR 0

Mathew Barzal (1) Cal Clutterbuck (1) 13:31 NYI 3,NYR 0

2nd Period

Jordan Eberle (1) Anders Lee (1) Jordan Eberle (1), Noah Dobson (1) 14:54 NYI 4,NYR 0 PPG

3rd Period

No Goals

The Skinny        

The Isles improve to 21-3-0 on Opening Night over the last five years and 5-10-3 in their last 18 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 13-24-11 on Opening Night (11-19-8 on the road)…It is only the second time that the Isles have recorded an Opening Night shutout: Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976…Barry Trotz improves to 11-8-3 on Opening Night (2-1-0 with the Isles)…Semyon Varlamov started on Opening Night for the 10th straight season (and second for the Islanders). Only Jonathan Quick (who started his 12th straight opener tonight) has a longer active streak than Varlamov…Brock Nelson scored his 4th career Opening Night goal and the fourth-earliest in a season-opener in Isles history...Noah Dobson has assists in three consecutive games, dating back to last March….Igor Shesterkin allowed four goals in a game for the second time in his career; a fifth Islander goal was erased via video review…The Rangers also had a goal disallowed because the whistle was blown…JG Pageau played in his first Isles regular season win (the team went 0-3-4 after his acquisition last season).

The Injury

Kevin Rooney suffered an injury in the third period and did not return.   

First Times in a Long Time 

• The Isles opened the season with a 3-goal first period for only the second time in their history (October 2007 at Buffalo)

• Nick Leddy (2 assists) is the first Isles defenseman since Johnny Boychuk in 2015 with multiple points in an opener.

• Brock Nelson's goal was the earliest to start a season since Miro Satan in 2006

• The Isles had eight power plays – their most vs. the Rangers since October 15, 2011 (also eight) and the most against anyone since March 31, 2017, when they had ten vs. New Jersey.

Look at Me, I'm Anders Lee (reflects scoring change)

The scoring change gave Lee a 2 goal, 8 shot opening night - he is the first Islander to ever have multiple goals and as least eight shots on Opening Night.

Lee is the first Islander with two goals on Opening Night since Brock Nelson (2014 in Carolina) and the first Islander captain with two Opening Night goals since Trevor Linden (1998 vs. Pittsburgh).

The corrected goal is also a power play goal; he had only two power play goals all last season.

With the 40th anniversary of Bossy's 50 in 50 coming next week, I present:

50 in 25

Anders Lee now has 25 two-goal games, most of any active player without a hat trick.  Adam Henrique is next on that list with 22.

Blanking on Broadway

It is only the third time the Isles have shut out the Rangers in a regular season game at Madison Square Garden:

• 12/17/1975: Billy Smith

• 1/13/2015: Jaroslav Halak

• 1/14/2021: Semyon Varlamov

It Is The Skinny, After All

For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Isles and Rangers played on either January 12th, 13th, or 14th.  The Isles are 4-2-0 in the six games, winning in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021 and losing in 2019 and 2020.

Home and Road

The Isles are 1-0-0 overall; 0-0-0 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.

The Rangers are 0-1-0 overall; 0-1-0 at home and 0-0-0 on the road.

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 846-618-60-151 in 1,675 games, and he is now four wins shy of supplanting Ken Hitchcock as the 3rd-winningest coach in NHL history.

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  925

3. Ken Hitchcock    849

4. Barry Trotz    846

5. Al Arbour    782

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,705

3. Barry Trotz        1,675

4. Al Arbour 1,607

First Things First

The Isles are 1-0-0 when scoring first and are 0-0-0 when allowing the opening goal. 

The Shots

Isles    10-11-12=33

Rangers 9-12-3=24

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 0-0-0 when the shots are even and 0-0-0 when they are outshot.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 53-25-9 when outshot; the 53 wins are the most in the NHL.

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for his 28th career shutout (and third with the Isles); he is 1-0-0 on the season and 7-5-2 in his career against the Rangers.  

Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves but falls to 0-1-0 on the season and 0-1-0 against the Isles

Special Teams

The Isles were 2-8 on the power play (12:52); the Rangers were 0-3 on the power play (6:00)

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least one power play goal and 0-0-0 when they do not.  The Isles are 0-0-0 when they allow at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 1-0-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 0-0-0 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 68-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles are 0-0-0 in games decided by a single goal including 0-0 in regulation. They are 0-0 in games decided in overtime and are 0-0 in shootouts.  The Isles are 0-0 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles are 0-0-0 in the front-half and 0-0-0 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

Tired vs. Rested 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when both teams played the night before. 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when they are rested, and their opponents are not. 

• The Isles are 0-0-0 when their opponents are rested, and the Isles are not.

• The Isles are 1-0-0 when both teams are rested. 

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (21:13); Rangers: Jacob Trouba (22:47)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 20:32 of ice-time. 

Isles record by ice-time leaders: Nick Leddy (1-0-0).

Face-offs

Isles 30, Rangers 21 (59%)

Casey Cizikas won 9 of 11 for the Isles; Scott Howden won 7 of 11 for the Rangers. 

Hit Count

Isles 25 (Kieffer Bellows -8)

Rangers 24 (Two with 4)

Fights 

There were no fights.  Season total:0

 

Blocked Shots

Isles 20 (Adam Pelech and Andy Greene -4)

Rangers 11 (Adam Fox -3)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 56, Rangers 49

Corsi: 5-on-5 Isles 44, Rangers 39

5-on-5 leaders:

Isles:  Nick Leddy +12

Rangers: Scott Howden +9

High Danger Scoring Chances (per Natural Stat Trick)

All situations: Isles 17, Rangers 8

5-on-5: Isles 14, Rangers 7

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  It is the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 269, Brock Nelson 246, Mathew Barzal 233, Ryan Pulock 196, Josh Bailey 154, Anthony Beauvillier 144.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 269

5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

6. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 246

   John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

8. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 233

10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 196

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5.  Josh Bailey 866…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 561 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Brock Nelson 549 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23. Claude Lapointe and Casey Cizikas 535

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 173  174*** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 151

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 322 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter, Alexei Yashin and Nick Leddy 171

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 476…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 303  ***22.  Brock Nelson 296

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 151

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 83

UP NEXT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16th— ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00pm,

[MSG+ (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio 1050]

The Isles look to sweep the season-opening series as they face the Rangers again at Madison Square Garden.  

It is the first time in Islander history that they will play consecutive games, both on the road, against the Rangers.  The closest that they had come might have been in 2014, when they played at Yankee Stadium on January 29th and in the Garden two nights later.  However, the Yankee Stadium game was technically an Islander home game.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on the Season Opener

"The Skinny" on the Opener

By Eric Hornick

It has been seventeen weeks since Anthony Cirelli's overtime goal burst the Islanders' bubble and ended the most successful Islander post-season in a generation just six wins shy of the Stanley Cup.  It all begins again on Thursday.

UP FIRST

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14th— ISLANDERS AT RANGERS 7:00pm,

[MSG+2 (pre-game at 6:30], WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN Radio 1050]

The Islanders begin their 49th NHL season at Madison Square Garden in the first two of eight meetings this season with the rival Rangers. The teams will also meet in Manhattan on Saturday.

The Isles went 1-2-1 against the Rangers last season. Alexander Georgiev was in goal for all three Ranger wins.  This will be the first meeting of the teams in regular season play since the Blueshirts spoiled Jean-Gabriel Pageau's Islander debut with a 4-3 overtime win last February 25th.

For the first time since 2005 (Kevin Weekes), Henrik Lundqvist will not be in goal for a Ranger opener.  Best wishes to The King in his recovery from his heart surgery.

Opening Night Skinny Notes

The Isles are 1-3-0 on Opening Night over the last four years and they are only 4-10-3 in their last 17 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 12-24-11 on Opening Night (10-19-8 on the road).  

The Islander home opener will be on Monday, January 18th at 5pm against the Boston Bruins.

Overall, the Isles have gone 28-13-6 in home openers, including 26-12-5 at the Coliseum. 

This will be the third-latest season-opener in Islander history (January 21, 1995 and January 19, 2013 – both were at home) and will end the second-longest gap (310 days) between regular season games in club history (549 days is the record due to the 2004-05 season lockout).

The Isles 12-24-11 (.372) Opening Night record is tied-2nd worst (with the Flames) among current teams. Anaheim has the worst record on opening night of any current team: 8-18-0 (.308).

The Isles have been involved in four shutouts on Opening Night.  Chico Resch blanked the Flyers in 1976, while the Kings (Stephane Fiset in 1996), Panthers (Jose Theodore in 2011), and Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky in 2017) turned the trick on the Isles.

The Islander club record for the fastest goal on Opening Night is 1:01, set by Dave Scatchard on October 10, 2002 in Buffalo.  The NHL record for the fastest Opening Night goal is 0:10, set by Kent Nilsson of Minnesota (10/11/86 @ Quebec).

Islander coach Barry Trotz will be behind an NHL bench on Opening Night for the 22nd time – as many as any other current NHL coach; Trotz is 10-8-3 in Openers while Florida's Joel Quenneville is 6-9-6 in his 21 Openers. Lindy Ruff will coach his 20th Opener (and first with New Jersey).

It Is The Skinny, After All

For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Isles and Rangers will play on either January 12th, 13th, or 14th.  The Isles are 3-2-0 in the previous five, winning in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and losing in 2019 and 2020.

Schedule Skinny:

Every Night is Rivalry Night

The Isles will play in the newly constructed East Division this season; they will play each of the other seven teams in the division eight times.  Older fans who remember the Patrick Division days will see that Division reunited as the Devils, Rangers, Flyers, Capitals, and Penguins are also in the East; the Isles are in the same division as the Sabres and Bruins for the first time since 1973-74.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play only eight sets of back-to-backs, and six of them will be played against the same opponent in the same building. Five of the six same-opponent sets will be on the road (at Philadelphia, at Buffalo, at Washington, at Pittsburgh and at Buffalo again); Pittsburgh will be at the Coliseum on February 27th and 28th.  The Isles will host one set of back-to-backs against different opponents (April 8th vs. Philadelphia and April 9th vs. the Rangers) and will host Washington on April 24th and play in Philadelphia the next night.

Tradition!

Twenty-two of the Isles' 28 home games will follow the traditional Tuesday (4), Thursday (10), Saturday (8) schedule.  They will also play three home games on Sunday, two home games on Friday and one (the home opener) on a Monday.  The Isles are not scheduled to play at home or on the road on a Wednesday.

Schedule by Month

January (9), February (14), March (13), April (15), May (5).  Prior to this season, the Isles had played only one regular season game in May in their history (May 2, 1995 vs. Philadelphia).  The Isles will complete the regular season at the Coliseum by hosting the Devils on Saturday, May 8th.

Schedule Streaks

The Isles have two lengthy homestands; they play seven straight games in February/March and then open April with six straight Coliseum matchups. The Isles will close January with five straight road games and will also play five straight in mid-February.

Pair of Breaks

The Isles will have a pair of four-day stretches without a game, going idle March 1-4 and March 21-24. Other than that, the Isles will not have more than two consecutive off-days during the season.

Matinee Isles

The Isles will play only two matinees this season. All 56 games will begin at 7pm or earlier.

The 2020-21 Islanders:

A Different 23

The Islander 23-man roster looks a bit different than Opening Night last year as there are five players on this year's Opening 23 that were not on the Opening 23 last season: JG Pageau and Andy Greene (who both were acquired in February), Sebastian Aho, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Thomas Hickey. Michael Dal Colle is on Injured Reserve, Johnny Boychuk is on Long-Term Injured Reserve, and Tom Kuhnhackl is an unrestricted free agent while Derek Brassard, Devon Toews and Thomas Greiss are no longer with the organization.  

The 23 active players represent five nationalities: American (Greene, Leddy, Lee, Mayfield, Nelson, Wahlstrom), Canadian (thirteen players), Swedish (Aho), Russian (Sorokin and Varlamov) and Estonian (Komarov).

Old and Young

Andy Greene (10-30-1982) remains the oldest player on the current roster and is the only Islander born before 1987. Oliver Wahlstrom (6-13-2000) is the youngest Islander.

Of the 23 players, Brock Nelson  is "middle-age".  Leddy, born October 15, 1991 is older than 11 teammates and younger than 11 others.  The average Islander is 28 years old.

Big and Small

Scott Mayfield and Ross Johnston are both listed at 6'5"; Jean Gabriel Pageau and Sebastian Aho are listed at 5'10".  Johnston and Anders Lee are both listed at 235 pounds while Pageau is 180 pounds.  The average Isle is 6'1", and 203 pounds.

Taxi Anyone?

The Isles have named four players to the taxi squad: Kieffer Bellows, Austin Czarnik, Otto Koivula and Jakub Skarek.

Brock-tober (in January)

Brock Nelson has been a fast starter during his NHL career, including on Opening Night.  Nelson has three Opening Night goals, which is the most by any Islander since Derek King (4).

Captain, My Captain

Anders Lee will serve as the Isles' captain for the third straight season.  He joins Michael Peca and John Tavares as the only players in the last quarter-century to captain the Isles for three straight years 

Var-ly, Var-ly

Semyon Varlamov was selected in the first round in 2006 (23rd overall) and has the most wins (232) and has played the most games (493) of any goaltender taken in that draft.  

Varlamov is expected to start on Opening Night for the 10th straight season (and second for the Islanders).  Entering this season, only Marc-Andre Fleury (14), Mike Smith (12), Jonathan Quick (11) and Pekka Rinne (10) had active streaks longer than Varly.

He's Finally Here

Ilya Sorokin was signed over the summer and is expected to dress for the season opener.  Sorokin is coming off a season in the KHL where he compiled a 1.50 GAA in the regular season and then allowed only three goals in four playoff games before COVID-19 interrupted the KHL playoffs.

Experienced Staff

Stanley Cup Champion Head Coach Barry Trotz begins his third season with the Isles as do assistant coaches Lane Lambert and Jon Gruden, goaltender coach Piero Greco, special assignment coach Jacques Lemaire and director of goaltending Mitch Korn. Jim Hiller returns for his second season as an assistant coach.

Keeping Great Company

Entering the 2020-21 season, Barry Trotz ranks fourth in NHL history in wins (845, just four behind Ken Hitchcock) and third in games coached (1,674). Trotz also ranks second among active head coaches in wins and games coached to Joel Quenneville's 925 wins and 1,705 games.  

Win, Win, Win

Lou Lamoriello begins his third season as the Islander President and General Manager. Including 27 seasons in New Jersey and three seasons in Toronto, Lou's teams have combined to go 1,294-904-179-159 in 2,536 games.

A Look Back

The Isles finished the 2019-20 regular season with a 35-23-10 record; they then advanced to the Eastern Conference Final by eliminating Florida, Washington, and Philadelphia in the 2020 Playoffs.

The Isles went 13-8-3 on Coliseum ice and 7-1-3 at Barclays Center last season; they were 15-14-4 on the road.

The Isles were 11-7-4 in Division games and 24-16-6 in games versus other divisions.  The Isles were 25-13-5 against the East and 10-10-5 against the West. 

Special Teams

The Isles were 29-168 on the power play (17.3% - tied/24th) and 34-176 (80.7% -15th) on the PK.  The Isles scored 6 shorthanded goals and allowed five shorties.

The Isles were 13-7-3 when they scored at least one power play goal and 22-16-7 when they did not.  The Isles were 14-9-4 when they allowed at least one power play goal and 21-14-6 when they did not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles were 31-3-5 when they scored at least three goals (including shootout winners) and were 4-20-5 when they do not.  Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 67-5-7 when scoring three or more.

One-Goal Games

The Isles were 16-7-10 in games decided by a single goal including 5-7 in regulation. They were 8-7 in games decided in overtime and are 3-3 in shootouts.  The Isles were 5-3 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles were 5-3-0 in the front-half and 6-1-1 in the back-half. The Under Barry Trotz, the Isles are 17-2-2 in back-ends.

200 Game Club

The Isles have three players who have active consecutive game streaks of at least 200 games, and they are three of just 25 players in the NHL who have played every game since the start of the 2017-18 season.  It is the first time since November 25, 1978 that the Isles have had three players with streaks of at least 200 games.

Ironman Streaks: Anders Lee 268, Brock Nelson 245, Mathew Barzal 232, Ryan Pulock 195, Josh Bailey 153, Anthony Beauvillier 143.

Iron Man

Anders Lee has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak while Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal have also moved into the top 10:

1. Billy Harris 10/7/1972 -11/30/1979 576 (*)

2. Bobby Nystrom 1/7/1975 - 11/25/1978 301

3. Matt Moulson 10/3/2009 - 4/4/2013 284

4. Anders Lee 1/26/2017 – CURRENT 268

5. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975 - 1/17/1979 262

6. John Tavares 10/16/2010 - 12/23/2013 246

7. Brock Nelson 3/16/2017 – CURRENT 245

8. J.P. Parise 1/7/1975 – 1/7/1978 240 (**)

9. Mathew Barzal 10/6/2017- CURRENT 232

10. Richard Park 10/5/2006 - 2/18/2009 221

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

Iron D

Ryan Pulock has the fourth-longest consecutive game streak of any defenseman in Islander history: 

1. Denis Potvin 11/29/1975-1/17/1979 262

2. Bryan McCabe 10/7/1995-2/4/1998 220 (*) (**)

3. Gerry Hart 3/1/1975-11/22/1977 198

4. Ryan Pulock 12/29/2017 – CURRENT 195

 (*) Start of NHL career.

(**) Entire career with Islanders

All-time Islander Leader Boards:

Games Played (skaters)

1. Bryan Trottier 1123 *** 2. Denis Potvin 1060 *** 3. Bob Nystrom 900 *** 4. Clark Gillies 872 *** 

5.  Josh Bailey 865…

17. John Tonelli 594 *** 18. Matt Martin 560 *** 19. Ken Morrow 550 *** 20. Brock Nelson 548 *** 21. Duane Sutter 547 *** 22. Lorne Henning 543 ***  23. Claude Lapointe 535 *** 24. Casey Cizikas 534

Goals

1. Mike Bossy 573 *** 2. Bryan Trottier 500 *** 3. Denis Potvin 310 …

12. Billy Harris 184 *** 13. Anders Lee 172 *** 14. Ziggy Palffy 168 *** 15. Patrick Flatley 160 *** 16. Josh Bailey 154 *** 17. Brock Nelson 150

Assists

1. Bryan Trottier 853 *** 2. Denis Potvin 742 *** 3. Mike Bossy 553…

6.  John Tonelli 338 *** 7. Pat Flatley 328 *** 8. Brent Sutter 323 *** 9. Josh Bailey 322 …

20. Ed Westfall 181 *** 21. Kenny Jonsson 175 *** 22. Duane Sutter and Alexei Yashin 171*** 24. Nick Leddy 169

Points

1. Bryan Trottier 1353 *** 2. Mike Bossy 1126 *** 3. Denis Potvin 1052…

11. Derek King 499 *** 12. Patrick Flatley 488 *** 13. Josh Bailey 476…

20. Ziggy Palffy 331 ***  21. Anders Lee 301  ***22. Mariusz Czerkawski and Brock Nelson 295

Games Coached 

1. Al Arbour 1,500 *** 2. Jack Capuano 483 *** 3. Mike Milbury 192 …

6. Peter Laviolette 164 *** 7. Ted Nolan 163 *** 8. Butch Goring 154 *** 9. Barry Trotz 150

 

Coaching Wins

1. Al Arbour 740 *** 2. Jack Capuano 227 *** 3. Barry Trotz 82

Same Voices, Same Places

MSG Networks will carry 50 of the Isles' 56 games this season (NBCSN will carry five games and the March 7th game with Buffalo will be on NBC).  Brendan Burke (who has called the last 246 Islander regular season games) and Butch Goring partner for the fifth season; Shannon Hogan hosts Isles telecasts for the 7th season.  It is Butch's 11th anniversary in the Isles booth; he has broadcast far more Isles games than he played and coached, combined. AJ Mleczko will also appear on Isles telecasts for the third straight year.

On radio, Chris King and Greg Picker team up for the sixth straight season.  All games will air on WRHU (88.7FM) and on WRCN (103.9FM), as well as the NHL App and on Satellite Radio. Most games this season will also air on ESPN Radio in New York City (either on 1050AM or 98.7FM).

And Finally…

We begin the 11th consecutive season of The Skinny as I begin my 40th year on Islander telecasts. The Skinny streak stands at 682 consecutive games, including playoffs.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny on The Schedule

"The Skinny" on the Schedule

By Eric Hornick

The wait is almost over.

The NHL announced the 2020-21 season schedule, and it will all begin for the Islanders with a 2-game series at Madison Square Garden, starting on Thursday, January 14th.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14th— ISLANDERS AT RANGERS TIME/TV TBA

The Islanders begin their 49th NHL season at Madison Square Garden in the first two of eight meetings this season with the rival Rangers. The teams will also meet in Manhattan on January 16th.

In an effort to reduce travel, the NHL has scheduled many sets of consecutive games in the same building against the same opponent. In fact, at some point this season the Isles will play consecutive games at home against each of the other East Division teams except Boston and will visit each opponent except New Jersey for at least one pair of games.

The Isles are 3-3-1 on Opening Night over the last seven years; however, they are only 4-10-3 in their last 17 Openers.  Overall, the Isles are 12-24-11 on Opening Night (2-5-3 at home).  

The Islander home opener will be on Monday, January 18th against the Boston Bruins.

Overall, the Isles have gone 28-13-6 in home openers, including 26-12-5 at the Coliseum. 

This will be the third latest season-opener in Islander history (January 21, 1995 and January 19, 2013 – both were at home) and will end the second-longest gap (310 days) between regular season games in club history (549 days is the record due to the 2004-05 season lockout).

Schedule Skinny:

Every Night is Rivalry Night

The Isles will play in the newly constructed East Division this season; they will play each of the other seven teams in the division eight times.  Older fans who remember the Patrick Division days will see that Division reunited as the Devils, Rangers, Flyers, Capitals, and Penguins are also in the East; the Isles are in the same division as the Sabres and Bruins for the first time since 1973-74.

Schedule by Opponent

Home	Road
1/18	3/25	Boston
2/13	3/27	Boston
2/25	4/13	Boston
3/9	4/16	Boston
2/2	2/15	Buffalo
2/4	2/16	Buffalo
3/5	5/3	Buffalo
3/7	5/4	Buffalo
1/21	1/24	New Jersey
3/11	2/23	New Jersey
5/6	3/13	New Jersey
5/8	4/27	New Jersey
4/9	1/14	New York
4/11	1/16	New York
4/20	2/8	New York
5/1	4/29	New York
3/18	1/30	Philadelphia
3/20	1/31	Philadelphia
4/3	4/18	Philadelphia
4/8	4/25	Philadelphia
2/6	2/18	Pittsburgh
2/11	2/20	Pittsburgh
2/27	3/29	Pittsburgh
2/28	3/30	Pittsburgh
4/1	1/26	Washington
4/6	1/28	Washington
4/22	3/15	Washington
4/24	3/16	Washington

Schedule Notes by Opponent:

• Boston -  the Bruins will visit the Coliseum four separate times before the Isles head to Beantown.

• Buffalo -  all eight games will be played in four sets of consecutive games, with the two sets in Buffalo played on back-to-back nights.

• New Jersey – the Isles and Devils will play two home-and-home series; the Isles will visit New Jersey in four different months – the only opponent for which this will happen.

• New York  Rangers- the teams will meet three times in the first 13 Isle games and five times in the last 16 games but will not play for two months in between those games.

• Philadelphia – the Flyers will visit the Coliseum four times in 22 days between March 18th and April 8th.

• Pittsburgh – all four Penguins visits will be in February; the teams will meet six times in February overall.

• Washington – the Capitals will visit the Coliseum four times in April; the four matchups in DC are all completed by March 16th.

Back-to-Backs

The Isles will play only 8 sets of back-to-backs, and six of them will be played against the same opponent in the same building. Five of the six same opponent sets will be on the road (at Philadelphia, at Buffalo, at Washington, at Pittsburgh and at Buffalo again); Pittsburgh will be at the Coliseum on February 27th and 28th.  The Isles will host one set of back-to-backs against different opponents (April 8th vs. Philadelphia and April 9th vs. the Rangers) and will host Washington on April 24th and play in Philadelphia the next night.

Tradition!

Twenty-two of the Isles' 28 home games will follow the traditional Tuesday (4), Thursday (10), Saturday (8) schedule.  They will also play three home games on Sunday, two home games on Friday and one (the home opener) on a Monday.  The Isles are not scheduled to play at home or on the road on a Wednesday.

Schedule by Month

January (9), February (14), March (13), April (15), May (5).  Prior to this season, the Isles had played only one regular season game in May in their history (May 2, 1995 vs. Philadelphia).  The Isles will complete the regular season at the Coliseum by hosting the Devils on Saturday, May 8th.

Schedule Streaks

The Isles have two lengthy homestands; they play seven straight games in February/March and then open April with six straight Coliseum matchups. The Isles will close January with five straight road games and will also play five straight in mid-February.

Pair of Breaks

The Isles will have a pair of four-day stretches without a game, going idle March 1-4 and March 21-24. Other than that, the Isles will not have more than two consecutive off-days during the season.

No Late Nights

With all of the games being played in the Eastern Time Zone, there will be no late starts for any Eastern Division team this season.

Matinee Isles?

The NHL has yet to announce start times for the games this season.

Battle for the Playoffs

The NHL has adopted a divisional-based playoff format this season, with the top four teams in each division qualifying for the post-season. The winners of the 1-vs-4 and 2-vs-3 series will meet for the division championship and the chance to meet a team from outside the division in the Stanley Cup Semi-Final.

The Stanley Cup is expected to be awarded no later than July 15th, with the hope that a short summer will get the NHL back to the traditional 82-game schedule in October 2021.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick